Tagged: black or white
A Pelican: The Guru of balance
Ananda enjoys going for a bike ride early in the morning by the Bay, as the birds awaken the daydreamers with their melodious self-made music.
Going out on a ride will be followed by coming back. That is self-evident. However, what happens in between is part of the newness that Life brings at every moment.
Ananda was riding his bike with the wind. Coming back, he was riding against the wind.
Both are experiences in Life, the completion of both experiences is what brings “insight” as “knowing” but never as the ultimate “truth for everyone” to follow. Everyone needs to ride their own bike and their experience may be different.
On the way out, it was an effortless ride. Although, it felt hot as the temperature went up. On the way back, it was an effort to pedal, but it was cooler and breezy.
Just like Life.
Today your grass may be greener but tomorrow it will not.
Both experiences are just that, experiences which in “reality” are just “One” experience. Going out and coming back is the trip of Life.
Ananda hasn’t said anything extraordinaire up to this point, but he had…. 🙂
“Going out was so easy. I was sweating like a pig, but it was nothing…. but, coming back… that was cruel man! I wanted to quit!”
Sounds familiar?
It is called comparison.
Judgment is included in that as well as a teaching for humanity, that is …everyone else:
“Do not ride against the wind.”
Ananda stopped by the beach to go for a swim. He observed a pelican teaching him what balance is all about: There is a time for gliding and another for flapping. That harmonious combination gives that gracefulness in flying. Funny, the pelican didn’t say a word of wisdom in its teaching.
I could hear some human teachings:
“Don’t be lazy. Make effort all the time. Flap your wings until there is nothing left. Go against the wind or with it. It does not matter. If you look tired is not “good.” Always have a smiling face.”
Or
“Don’t do a thing, man. Let everyone else do it for you. You need to learn how to use people to your advantage. There is always a sucker out there…”
The “black or white” mentality.
The pelican kept flying. You couldn’t see a smile in its face, but a sense of elegance, distinction and confidence.
The pelican does not know what those words; elegance, distinction and confidence mean. The pelican “is” all of that without knowing. Isn’t that paradoxical?
Shall we teach a monkey to “become that”?
If the monkey could observe. If the monkey could know by experience what harmony is, then perhaps the monkey will be ready to learn.
What about if we take the monkey to a school to learn all those things?
Information is not the “thing.”
“Scientific research has proven that 20% of white adult males between the ages of 30 and 45 years will not complain when riding against the wind. That is when riding on a wind of 8 mph coming from the East in a fairly cloudy day with 90% humidity.”
Now you “know.” Your experience may be different but a researcher knows best. 🙂
In Life, we will go out just to come back. If our mind rejects one side of the trip, we have created a duality.
“Going out is better. Always select it. It is heaven. God will be with you.”
For those experiencing coming back in their trip of Life there is “hope:”
“That suffering in pedaling will have a reward in heaven. Don’t stop. Keep moving until you cannot pedal an inch.”
Observe. Be in tune with those who are less intelligent than you. Those who have fewer degrees than you, those who do not have God in their side… those who do not think but who feel Life at every moment, that is those who “live in the now,” without knowing what in the heck that is.
A teacher appears everyday in Nature. When the student is ready to observe, the teacher appears.
How do you recognize the teacher?
There will not be any teachings for you.
“Black or White” morality.
Killing is “bad.”
The bird killed the fish to eat it.
Was that “bad”?
A human killed a fish (the “sport” of fishing) just to throw it away for he had many already with him.
Was that “bad”?
Intention before action.
Shall we put everything under the umbrella that “killing is bad”? Make a commandment for all?
That is the “black or white” world. The mentality in that world is a consequence of having ideals, moral standards that are completely incapable of changing according to time and the circumstances. That inflexibility cannot flow with the changes in Life.
That is the religious view of “good and bad” based on actions which are qualified as moral or immoral, good or bad, pure or impure, virtuous or sinner.
Trapped in that mentality we are unable to observe that Life does not work in that way.
“Your” God, “Your” morality, “Your” ideals, “Your” virtue… it is all tinted by the “black or white” mentality.
Do we see that?
Want to be a “vegetarian”?
Define it. Defend it. Make yourself look “good,” “humanitarian.”
Want more followers, more adepts? Then, you are “especial.”
“Black or White” mentality. Vegetarian vs. non-vegetarian.
Want to be a “vegan”?
Define it. Defend it. Make yourself look “good.”
Want more followers, more adepts? Then, you are “especial.”
“Black or White” mentality. Vegan vs. non-vegan.
When humans lose the sense of balance which animals in Nature have, at that point all becomes a “black or white” matter of fact.
Is a bird a vegan? A vegetarian?
Do they live their Life based on definitions and concepts?
They live according to their nature, for in Nature, they have a particular task as we are all One.
That is why, even though the bird kills to survive, that is not “bad.”
Humans on the other hand…..
First acknowledge your own nature. Then acknowledge that it will change. Then acknowledge that a definition of yourself through a label only limits your own understanding.
Of course, the above is not for everyone. Ahnanda does not share “spirituality” for the masses.
Those who are meant to understand, will.
Changing “bad” into “good.”
“… It’s one of the great lessons of life. What comes out when life squeezes you? When someone hurts or offends you? If anger, pain and fear come out of you, it’s because that’s what’s inside. It doesn’t matter who does the squeezing: your mother, your brother, your children, your boss, the government. If someone says something about you that you don’t like, what comes out of you is what’s inside. And what’s inside is up to you, it’s your choice.
When someone puts the pressure on you and out of you comes anything other than love, it’s because that’s what you’ve allowed to be inside. Once you take away all those negative things you don’t want in your life and replace them with love, you’ll find yourself living a highly functioning life.”
Wayne Dyer.”
For most individuals the teaching expressed above is great. Life squeezes you and the juice that comes out is what you are…
Let us take a look at this phrase: “What’s inside is up to you. It’s your choice.”
Going along with that consciousness, we are taught to change what we ARE by DOING several things, here are some of the ones that I recall in my life experience:
Praying, meditating, having yoga with God, feeling guilty every time I had anger and asking for forgiveness by confessing my sin, pretending to be good by rejecting my anger, keeping that anger inside and learning not to express it because it is “bad.” After all, I am supposed to be “love” and I need to act that part to be considered “good.”
In a subtle way, this is how we learn to be dishonest with ourselves.
Here is another realization: “If we want to change something in us, don’t change it, but observe it instead.”
The “I” changing the “I” is the illusion of an illusion, changing another illusion.
If we willfully change something, which is not ripe enough in consciousness, that will be a repression.
When we observe something, we realize the triggers and the consequences without judgment and labeling.
This is not an issue of “choice.” It is an issue of awareness. Until we are not aware, we will not have choice. Paradoxically, when there is awareness there is no need to choose.
The “choice” of replacing “negative things” for “positive” turns into a repression when it is not the natural consequence of observation and the assimilation of life experiences.
When we “choose” to live in love, that is not love but a belief of what we think love is. When our consciousness opens up through that observation, we may find that love is not an “action” or a “thought of being loving” but a continuous state of openness to “what is.”
Anger is not “bad” in itself. It is a mismanaged energy which has a consequence in the self and others.
The energy of anger could be transformed into strength when needed.
Typically all “spiritual” teachings in duality, will teach us to suppress and to “replace” with something else.
Replace your “bad” thoughts with “loving thoughts.”
Thoughts are a reflection of who we ARE at that point in time.
We change who we ARE, when we are AW-ARE…. paradoxically, without willfully making a change.
That change is non-intellectual, it is not to replace concepts in our minds and to make ourselves believe that we are “doing” good because we follow some law, code or commandment.
When there is awareness, there is flexibility to change without being asked to or told to, but it is a natural expression of being harmonious with our perception of “what is.”
Our ability to be conscious of our relationship with everything, changes our interaction naturally.
Until that point arrives in our lives, then it may be necessary to live under the “black or white” world of duality for as long as it is necessary.
Below, those “spiritual” teachings is a nutshell:
This is bad. That is good. This is right. That is wrong.
This is positive, take it. That is negative, reject it.
Sounds familiar? 🙂
Dependencies and the search for perfection
A preference could be small or it could be extremely important. When it is small, that preference is manageable. When that preference has intensity, it becomes a dependency.
A dependency then will show us the extremes of our personality. Thus, for the “life traveler,” to be aware of his own dependencies is “good.”
In the ”black or white” world a dependency is “bad.”
What is the difference between an individual set into the “black or white” ways and a “life traveler” openness?
Consciousness. Awareness.
That is all.
When a “life traveler” is ready to strip down his dependencies, life will offer the experiences for those dependencies to be looked at.
For example, most “normal” individuals despise being “alone.” Definitely our society is not meant for a person to be by himself or herself. There are many pressures, many traditions, many expectations, many beliefs.
To have time to be alone is an important requisite to know that which we call “self.”
No shortcuts on that.
When the dependency of others is strong, self-knowledge is low. It is in that state of dependency when “relationships” happen in a “normal” way. It is called “companionship.”
Until the individual is not whole in himself, there is no relationship as “sharing” but as depending due to the strong preference of not being alone.
What is individual wholeness?
In previous articles it was mentioned that there is an “inner family” in the self. The “inner kid,” the “man,” and the “woman.” They are all together with their own needs and wants. To balance those energies is necessary before integrating into the Totality, whether that is a relationship with someone or not, but Integration is important.
Someone asked at one time “where is this knowledge coming from?”
Obviously is not by reading books and listening to classes given by gurus about “spirituality.”
Obviously is not from following religious groups which could interpret my experiences according to their dogmas. Obviously is not by believing in a “black or white” God.
It is by observing Nature and that which we call the self. It is by listening to Nature and the self.
It comes when we feel at ease with ourselves, when we are ready to strip down our beliefs and emotional hang ups and open our arms to the experiences that life may bring.
To “know” is already in us, all we need to “do” is to let it emerge… and it will emerge when the dependencies lower their intensity.
Is to read spiritual books and to listen to spiritual classes “bad” then? 🙂
Of course not. It is part of the changing experience, BUT…we could develop a dependency on those things as well… and life will change the route.
For those who are ready, here is a little something:
When someone else makes the decision for us to change our ways…for example, “reading books” into “not reading books anymore,” that is to lack respect for the life path of someone.
When we make our own decision not to read books anymore for whatever reason, then we embrace repression, rigidity and a new belief.
When it happens naturally without thought, without inner clash, without drama… then that is natural.
For many “life travelers,” to let things happen becomes the biggest guilt trip of all. Trapped in beliefs, they do not allow themselves to change.
Life is change.
When we perceive that perfection which is not a “static” thing, but continuous movement; how on earth could we say something like: “I strive for perfection”?
Perfection is here, right now… but we are not aware of it and we have an idea of something that we want to “achieve in the future.”
Senseless.
If perfection is right now, ever-changing and moving in all respects, what is there to “do”? 😉
To enjoy it and to appreciate it.
If we learn to do that without reason, without thought, without cultivation and compulsion, naturally… then we may be living life in joy.
That could be labeled as perfection.
Exploring the Depth of Living 